A Bartow County sanitation worker found a dismembered body part at a landfill Monday afternoon, sheriff’s officials said in a news release.

The worker found the body part while dumping a compact container at the landfill, located in the 40 block of Allatoona Dam Road near Emerson, Bartow County sheriff's Sgt. Jonathan Rogers said.

The GBI’s Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting an autopsy to determine the identification and cause of death.

Officials dumped out the trash inside the compactor and are combing through it for any evidence, Channel 2 Action News reported.

The landfill is just south of Cartersville.

No other details were released.

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Ceudy Gutierrez reads a book to her 2-year-old son, Matias, at their home in Buford, GA, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Ceudy Gutierrez is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her three young kids following her husband’s ICE arrest earlier this fall. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

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